Sleep | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/sleep
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 31 Mar 2015 21:30:59 GMT2015-03-31T21:30:59Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Does the position in which we sleep have any effect on our internal organs?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/25/position-sleep-affect-internal-organs
<p>Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts</p><p>Does the position in which we sleep at night – on our front, back, left or right sides – have any positive or negative effect on our internal organs, or our body in general?</p><p><em>Carrie Hill, Bath</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/25/position-sleep-affect-internal-organs">Continue reading...</a>SleepHealth & wellbeingLife and styleWed, 25 Mar 2015 15:00:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/25/position-sleep-affect-internal-organsPhotograph: Getty ImagesSleeping comfortably? Photograph: Getty ImagesPhotograph: Getty ImagesSleeping comfortably? Photograph: Getty ImagesGuardian Staff2015-03-25T15:00:07ZShould I restrict my child’s naps?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/22/should-i-restrict-my-childs-naps
A new review concludes that it isn’t a good idea for children over the age of two to sleep during the day. It makes interesting reading, but seems counterintuitive<p>A child’s nap often provides a much-needed rest for parents too. Time for an uninterrupted phone call, or a snooze on the sofa. And naps have to be a good thing for preschoolers, surely, since they need to unwind and get enough sleep for their brains to develop? <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00718.x/full" title="">Short naps have also been shown to be good for adults</a> – improving alertness and reaction times.</p><p>So it feels counterintuitive <a href="http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2015/01/29/archdischild-2014-307241.short?g=w_adc_pressrelease_tab" title="">for a&nbsp;review of 26 studies</a> to conclude that napping in children over two years of age may not be a good idea after all. The review, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, says that after two years of age, napping is associated with going to sleep later at night, poorer quality sleep and waking earlier. Children vary in how quickly their daily cycle of waking and sleeping becomes consolidated into one chunk at night – afternoon naps generally decline between the ages of three and five. So should we discourage naps in preschool children – even if they really seem to need one?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/22/should-i-restrict-my-childs-naps">Continue reading...</a>SleepHealth & wellbeingLife and styleChildrenSocietySun, 22 Mar 2015 18:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/22/should-i-restrict-my-childs-napsPhotograph: /AlamyShould preschoolers still have naps? Photograph: AlamyPhotograph: /AlamyShould preschoolers still have naps? Photograph: AlamyLuisa Dillner2015-03-22T18:00:06ZThe village that fell asleep: mystery illness perplexes Kazakh scientistshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/18/kazakhstan-sleeping-village-mystery
<p>For the last two years the residents of Kalachi have been falling into unexplained bouts of sleep - sometimes for weeks at a time. With no cause yet identified, <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72491">Joanna Lillis</a> meets the victims resisting relocation by the authorities </p><p>One day last summer, Viktor Kazachenko set off across the steppe from his village in northern Kazakhstan. He was driving to the nearest town on some errands, but he never arrived.<br /> <br />“My brain switched off,” he says. “That’s it. I don’t remember.” Kazachenko had been hit by the so-called “sleeping sickness” that is plaguing Kalachi, a remote village about 300 miles west of the country’s capital Astana. </p><p>The mysterious illness has sent residents into comas, sometimes lasting days on end. “I was going to town on 28 August ,” Kazachenko told <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/">EurasiaNet.org</a>, still disoriented by the experience. “I came round on 2 September. I understood [on waking up] in the hospital that I’d fallen asleep.” </p><p>We are all in fear of falling asleep</p><p>‘Voluntary resettlements’</p><p>Why should I go? I’ve been here for 40 years. I’m going to die here.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/18/kazakhstan-sleeping-village-mystery">Continue reading...</a>KazakhstanHealthScienceNuclear powerNuclear wasteMiningEnvironmentWorld newsSleepHealth & wellbeingWed, 18 Mar 2015 05:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/18/kazakhstan-sleeping-village-mysteryPhotograph: Joanna Lillis /EurasiaNetThe old mining site at Krasnogorskiy is only home to a few dozen families.Photograph: Joanna Lillis /EurasiaNetThe old mining site at Krasnogorskiy is only home to a few dozen families.Photograph: Joanna Lillis /EurasiaNetA lack of scientific facts has led locals to suspect that an abandoned uranium mine could be the cause of the ‘sleeping sickness’.Photograph: Joanna Lillis /EurasiaNetA lack of scientific facts has led locals to suspect that an abandoned uranium mine could be the cause of the ‘sleeping sickness’.Photograph: Joanna Lillis/EurasiaNetJoanna Lillis in Kalachi for EurasiaNet.org, part of the New East network2015-03-18T05:00:08ZTop five: time for bedhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2015/mar/13/top-five-time-for-bed
<p>Today is <a href="http://worldsleepday.org/">World Sleep Day</a>. Cue hollow laughs from insomniacs and parents of young children across the land. So here are five products that might at least get the small fry into bed – no guarantees that they will stay there, sorry</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2015/mar/13/top-five-time-for-bed">Continue reading...</a>SleepLife and styleFri, 13 Mar 2015 11:47:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2015/mar/13/top-five-time-for-bedPhotograph: PRPhotograph: PRKate Carter2015-03-13T11:47:49ZSophie Heawood: want to get ahead? Do these five things before you go to bedhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/28/sophie-heawood-successful-people-bedtime-tips
<p>‘Successful people work on their to-do lists for the morning, which I also do. I lie there in the darkness planning to get up really early and delete that thing where I called everybody an idiot’</p><p>The problem with articles that have&nbsp;annoying titles such as Five&nbsp;Things Really Successful People&nbsp;Do Before Going To Bed is&nbsp;that&nbsp;I am almost guaranteed to click on them&nbsp;and read them, which is probably why I’m&nbsp;not getting enough sleep. I read another one yesterday, which said that these paragons of industry and virtue all turn their phones and computers off long before they go&nbsp;to&nbsp;sleep.</p><p>Well, so do I, I thought, pleased to see that&nbsp;we&nbsp;had that much in common. I turn my&nbsp;phone and laptop off at about two o’clock in the morning and find I’m so wired from the glowing screens that I can’t actually get to sleep&nbsp;for another couple of hours at least. And&nbsp;then when I <em>still</em> really can’t sleep, I&nbsp;accidentally turn them all back on again and&nbsp;go&nbsp;for another last check round the internet,&nbsp;making sure there are no opinions being&nbsp;voiced that I haven’t corrected, and nobody&nbsp;I’ve not called an idiot yet. I need to know there’s&nbsp;no unfinished thought, pulled out of my brain’s drafts folder and placed, regrettably, nakedly, in a public forum such as Facebook, that I can’t then feel slightly anxious about until&nbsp;morning.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/28/sophie-heawood-successful-people-bedtime-tips">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleSleepSat, 28 Feb 2015 06:00:17 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/28/sophie-heawood-successful-people-bedtime-tipsPhotograph: Nishant Choksi for the GuardianIllustration: Nishant Choksi for the GuardianPhotograph: Nishant Choksi for the GuardianIllustration: Nishant Choksi for the GuardianSophie Heawood2015-02-28T06:00:17ZSleeping with Jeff Bridges has become a nightmarehttp://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2015/feb/22/sleeping-with-jeff-bridges-become-nightmare-new-album
A new album from the actor and country musician aims to help you sleep – which is great until the Dude invades your dreams<p>If cult actor and sometime country musician <a href="http://www.dreamingwithjeff.com/">Jeff Bridges’ new album, Sleeping Tapes,</a> is aimed at anyone, it is people like me. I have, on numerous occasions when Radio 3 is getting a bit severe, typed into YouTube “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=drowsy+music+drones">drowsy music drones</a>” or “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guaranteed+to+make+you+sleep">guaranteed to make you sleep</a>” in a desperate quest to silence my chattering mind. I’ve even dipped my toe in the world of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30412358">autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)</a>, hours of videos, all with millions of views, of people softly speaking at you about a massage they’re going to give, or ordering you a hotel room.</p><p>Bridges’ record is sort of ASMR-plus and claims to draw on his years of practising meditation and studying zen philosophy. It’s also basically a massive advert for the website-designing platform <a href="http://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a>, which you might know because it sometimes appears to sponsors every podcast ever made, to show off how even a big old hippy such as Jeff Bridges can build own website.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2015/feb/22/sleeping-with-jeff-bridges-become-nightmare-new-album">Continue reading...</a>Jeff BridgesFilmMusicCultureSleepHealth & wellbeingLife and styleSun, 22 Feb 2015 18:15:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2015/feb/22/sleeping-with-jeff-bridges-become-nightmare-new-albumPhotograph: Jason Redmond/Associated PressJeff Bridges, who claims to draw on his years of practising meditation for his new album, Sleeping Tapes.Photograph: Jason Redmond/Associated PressJeff Bridges, who claims to draw on his years of practising meditation for his new album, Sleeping Tapes.Photograph: PRJeff Bridges from the promo for his new album, Sleeping Tapes.Photograph: PRJeff Bridges from the promo for his new album, Sleeping Tapes.Sam Wolfson2015-02-22T18:15:04ZHow to get your kids off to sleep, minus the stresshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/20/how-to-get-your-kids-off-to-sleep-minus-the-stress
Shouting ‘Go to sleep!’ is not the most effective solution. I should know, I’ve tried it enough<p>A survey I received recently suggests that parents find bedtime to be the most stressful part of the day. The raw evidence behind most commercially commissioned surveys – this one was from a blinds company – are often weak, and this is no exception. Yet the results chimed with my own experience quite strongly.</p><p>Mealtimes and waking-up times are no picnic either, along with the times in between, but bedtime does present its own special set of problems, mainly because getting a child to sleep is fundamentally out of our control, and parents hate feeling helpless. Which is a shame, because that is fundamentally the condition of parents, as it is of children.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/20/how-to-get-your-kids-off-to-sleep-minus-the-stress">Continue reading...</a>SleepHealth & wellbeingParents and parentingFamilyLife and styleFri, 20 Feb 2015 13:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/20/how-to-get-your-kids-off-to-sleep-minus-the-stressPhotograph: Getty Images/Image SourceBedtime – the most stressful part of the day for parents. Photograph: Getty Images/Image SourcePhotograph: Getty Images/Image SourceBedtime – the most stressful part of the day for parents. Photograph: Getty Images/Image SourceTim Lott2015-02-20T13:30:01ZHow much sleep do I need?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/15/how-much-sleep-do-i-need-recommended-amounts-all-ages
A study in the US has come up with new guidelines and recommended amounts for every age group<p>So now we know how much sleep we need. <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/luhs-hms021115.php" title="">The National Sleep Foundation in the US has had 18 experts</a> sifting through 320 research articles to deliver an updated version of its “sleep time duration recommendations”. The articles were whittled down from an original 2,412 on the basis of the strength of the studies.</p><p>In making their recommendations, the experts took into account the health benefits, but also the risks, associated with sleep. Too little sleep over several nights leaves you tired, unable to concentrate, depressed, anxious and, eventually, if it continues, at an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Too much sleep is associated with much the same&nbsp;problems.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/15/how-much-sleep-do-i-need-recommended-amounts-all-ages">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleSleepHealth & wellbeingSocietySun, 15 Feb 2015 19:30:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/15/how-much-sleep-do-i-need-recommended-amounts-all-agesPhotograph: PR company handoutToo little sleep can damage your health, but so can too much sleep. Photograph: PR company handoutPhotograph: PR company handoutToo little sleep can damage your health, but so can too much sleep. Photograph: PR company handoutLuisa Dillner2015-02-15T19:30:09ZWould you let a stranger wake you up with a phone call?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/09/wakie-app-review-stranger-wake-you-up-phone-call
<p>A new app, Wakie, promises that the ‘mental engagement’ offered by a call from another, random, user is an effective wake-up strategy – but does it work? We tested it for a week</p><p>Should you talk to strangers? Technology has never offered clear guidance on this. Every incarnation of the communication revolution – from chat rooms to Chatroulette – has offered a new way of plonking users alongside other bored weirdos and seeing what happens. This is often sold with the promise of creating a global conversation, of bringing people together, but in reality only two groups of people seem to end up in that conversation: drunk first-timers asking, “Is this thing on?” and masturbators.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/wakieapp">Wakie is a new-ish app</a> that might have found a way around that. Like many gimmicky bits of tech from the past, it pairs you with a random stranger on the phone. But it also give you a purpose: to wake someone up (and in turn, be woken up by them). Tell it what time you want to get up, and Wakie finds a person who will give you a call. They have one minute to do whatever they want– the app suggests “talk gently, ask questions, sing or play music”. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/09/wakie-app-review-stranger-wake-you-up-phone-call">Continue reading...</a>SleepLife and styleAppsHealth & wellbeingTechnologyMon, 09 Feb 2015 14:15:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/09/wakie-app-review-stranger-wake-you-up-phone-callPhotograph: PRThe Wakie app … what you’ve been waiting for? PRPhotograph: PRThe Wakie app … what you’ve been waiting for? PRSam Wolfson2015-02-09T14:15:49ZMy 11-year-old sister is afraid of the dark and won’t sleep on her ownhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/06/my-11-year-old-sister-is-afraid-of-the-dark-and-wont-sleep-on-her-own
<p>She always ends up in my bed or my parents’, saying she’s scared. Is it a phase?</p><p><strong>My 11-year-old sister refuses to sleep on her own, and still sleeps with our parents. She says that she’s too scared to sleep on her own. I’ve asked her many times why she doesn’t sleep by herself. She always says that she’s scared and she doesn’t want to sleep by herself in her room. She says the room is haunted and she saw our dead grandfather’s face once. I also have a feeling that something is wrong with that room but when I offered her my room she said she doesn’t know if she’s able to sleep on her own. </strong></p><p><strong>My parents and I have tried many methods to get her to sleep by herself such as leaving the lights on, leaving the door open, etc; however, she always ends up going back to my parents’ room. She slept on her own until she was eight, but since my parents let her sleep with them she hasn’t been able to sleep on her own. Is it a phase? </strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/06/my-11-year-old-sister-is-afraid-of-the-dark-and-wont-sleep-on-her-own">Continue reading...</a>SleepParents and parentingHealth & wellbeingFamilyLife and styleFri, 06 Feb 2015 15:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/06/my-11-year-old-sister-is-afraid-of-the-dark-and-wont-sleep-on-her-ownPhotograph: Peter Glass/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Peter Glass/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Peter Glass/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Peter Glass/Getty ImagesAnnalisa Barbieri2015-02-06T15:00:00ZTeenagers sleep less when they have more computer screen time says studyhttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/03/teenagers-sleep-less-when-they-have-more-computer-screen-time-says-study
<p>Investigation in Norway involving 10,000 teenagers showed more screen time means less rest and more difficulty getting to sleep</p><p>Parents have long suspected it, but now doctors have proof: the more time teenagers spend on computers or mobile phones, the less they sleep - especially if the gadget is used just before bedtime.<br /></p><p>The evidence is so strong, the experts said, that health watchdogs should overhaul guidelines for electronic device use by youngsters.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/03/teenagers-sleep-less-when-they-have-more-computer-screen-time-says-study">Continue reading...</a>TechnologySleepHealth & wellbeingNorwayEuropeWorld newsTue, 03 Feb 2015 02:56:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/03/teenagers-sleep-less-when-they-have-more-computer-screen-time-says-studyPhotograph: AlamyInvestigation has shown that teenagers using screens for more than four hours per day are three-and-a-half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night.Photograph: AlamyInvestigation has shown that teenagers using screens for more than four hours per day are three-and-a-half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night.Agence France-Presse2015-02-03T02:56:35ZSoporific songs: what music makes you snooze?http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/29/soporific-songs-what-music-makes-you-snooze
<p>Jeff Bridges thinks he’s hit the lullaby jackpot with his new Sleeping Tapes. But what do you stick on the stereo when the sandman has gone awol? </p><p>From Heaps of Sheep by Robert Wyatt, to the Beatles’ I’m Only Sleeping, the Chordettes’ Mr Sandman and Metallica’s Enter Sandman – sleep, or a lack thereof – has long been a popular lyrical trope. But can music – whether explicitly snoozed-minded or not – actually help us sink into slumber? </p><p>According to<a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Insomnia/Pages/Introduction.aspx"> NHS,</a> it can go some way to help. Aside from the obvious (taking sleeping pills, avoiding caffeine and wearing eye masks), they also recommend “calming music” to ease you into a coma. Incongruous as it sounds, perhaps Jeff Bridges can help: his new sleep-centric album (<a href="http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/29/jeff-bridges-has-made-a-spoken-word-ambient-album-to-help-you-fall-asleep/">Jeff Bridges’ Sleeping Tapes, a double album of his spoken word and ambient music</a>) hopes to lull you into a lowered state of consciousness. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/upside-insomnia-sleep-deprivation-creativity-musicians">The upside of insomnia: how sleep deprivation aids creativity</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/29/soporific-songs-what-music-makes-you-snooze">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockJeff BridgesSleepHealth & wellbeingMusicCultureThu, 29 Jan 2015 14:51:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/29/soporific-songs-what-music-makes-you-snoozePhotograph: Kelvin Murray/GettyTime for some soothing Rammstein?Photograph: Kelvin Murray/GettyTime for some soothing Rammstein?Guardian music2015-01-29T14:51:36ZSundance 2015 review: The Nightmare – documentary shows truth more frightening than fictionhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/28/sundance-2015-review-the-nightmare-documentary-shows-truth-more-frightening-than-fiction
<p>Room 237 documentarian Rodney Ascher takes us into the dark, shows us screaming sufferers of sleep paralysis, then tells us we could well become one of them. Good luck ever resting again</p><p>For most of us, collapsing in bed is a reward after a full day. For some, like the eight interview subjects in The Nightmare, it’s just the start of a second, secret (and terrifying) life. Expanding his style from marvellous short The S From Hell (about unnerving corporate logos) and Room 237 (about people obsessed with signs and wonders they feel are hidden in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining) film-maker Rodney Ascher’s blend of staged recreations, voiceover and artful composition has secured himself a position as one of the most unique documentarians working today. Moreover, with The Nightmare he’s made a nonfiction film more frightening (yet strangely entertaining) than most of today’s narrative horror films.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/28/sundance-2015-review-the-nightmare-documentary-shows-truth-more-frightening-than-fiction">Continue reading...</a>Sundance film festival 2015HorrorSleepDocumentaryFestivalsPsychologyScienceHealth & wellbeingSundance film festivalWed, 28 Jan 2015 09:14:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/28/sundance-2015-review-the-nightmare-documentary-shows-truth-more-frightening-than-fictionPhotograph: PRJust try counting sheep … The Nightmare.Photograph: PRJust try counting sheep … The Nightmare.Jordan Hoffman2015-01-28T09:14:47ZHow to eat less takeaway, stress less and sleep better: your 2015 new year's resolutionshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/22/how-to-eat-less-takeaway-stress-less-and-sleep-better-your-2015-new-years-resolutions
<p>In the final of our series, we explore how to make improvements to your life in 2015. Spend less money on takeaway food, worry less and banish screens from your bedroom – our experts advise<br></p><p>There’s no doubt about it, Australians love dining out. The average Aussie spends about <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2013/australians-showing-a-taste-for-convenience.html">$70 a week</a> on eating out in cafes, takeaways and restaurants. And we love our fast food. Most of us will eat fast food four times a month - that’s <a href="http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/average-australian-eats-fast-food-nearly-every-week-20140311-34k15.html">51.5m visits</a> to fast food joints every month. The driving force behind these statistics <a href="http://ausfoodnews.com.au/2013/11/18/convenience-the-key-driver-for-australia&acirc;s-food-health-choices.html">is convenience</a> – we are increasingly short on time, spending longer at work and activities outside the home, which naturally means that we will grab something while we are out and about. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/05/how-to-stick-to-your-2015-new-years-resolutions">How to stick to your 2015 new year's resolutions</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/how-to-eat-healthily-be-mindful-and-simplify-your-life-new-years-resolutions-made-easy">How to eat healthily, be mindful and simplify your life: new year's resolutions made easy</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/16/new-years-resolutions-quitting-your-job-cooking-from-scratch-and-shopping-sustainably">New year's resolutions: quitting your job, cooking from scratch and shopping sustainably</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/13/new-years-resolutions-cycle-to-work-run-a-marathon-drink-less-coffee">New year's resolutions: cycle to work, run a marathon and drink less coffee</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/22/how-to-eat-less-takeaway-stress-less-and-sleep-better-your-2015-new-years-resolutions">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleNew yearTechnologySleepFast foodMeditationYogaThu, 22 Jan 2015 03:25:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/22/how-to-eat-less-takeaway-stress-less-and-sleep-better-your-2015-new-years-resolutionsPhotograph: AlamyYoga: is it the key to calm?Photograph: AlamyYoga: is it the key to calm?Photograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesCould sleeping soundly be key to a happy 2015?Photograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesCould sleeping soundly be key to a happy 2015?Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesStop eating so many takeaways in 2015.Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesStop eating so many takeaways in 2015.Saman Shad Shalailah Medhora and Fred McConnell2015-01-22T03:25:58ZGo places when you’re asleep with lucid dreaminghttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/13/go-places-asleep-lucid-dreaming
Fancy flying, or hanging out with celebrities? With simple techniques you can learn to control your dreams<p>What if you could go to bed each night, fall asleep and have total control of your dreams? That is what happens when you lucid dream, and when it happens it’s as if you’re the architect of your own world, the director and star of your own movie.</p><p>You can change scenery, add characters and orchestrate events. People say it feels like being inside a computer game. It’s an alternate universe; like <a href="http://secondlife.com/" title="">Second Life,</a> where, if you know how to control it, you can choose any identity you wish.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/13/go-places-asleep-lucid-dreaming">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleSleepSciencePsychologyTue, 13 Jan 2015 11:00:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/13/go-places-asleep-lucid-dreamingPhotograph: Robert Frank HunterWith practice you can get into a lucid dream state and stay there for longer, say experts. Illustration: Robert Frank HunterPhotograph: Robert Frank HunterWith practice you can get into a lucid dream state and stay there for longer, say experts. Illustration: Robert Frank HunterKatie Antoniou2015-01-13T11:00:05ZWhat’s your unusual bedtime habit? | Open threadhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/12/masterchef-gregg-wallace-unusual-bedtime-habit
So Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace reads Winnie the Pooh in bed to his fiancee. What do you do that’s endearing – or annoying?<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/masterchef" title="">Masterchef</a> presenter Gregg Wallace has said that he <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11338478/Gregg-Wallace-says-he-reads-Winnie-The-Pooh-books-to-his-wife-to-be.html" title="">reads the Winnie the Pooh stories</a> to his fiancee at night. Wallace explained that he thought people had the wrong idea about him, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2905616/We-read-Winnie-Pooh-books-bed-Masterchef-s-Gregg-Wallace-talks-life-fianc-e-Anne-Marie-says-s-looking-forward-dad-again.html#ixzz3Obr803PB" title="">saying</a>: “I’ve been portrayed as a womanising football hooligan, but I don’t recognise that person. Now I like to go home, cook with Anna and read history books. I also read to her in bed. We’re big fans of Winnie the Pooh.”</p><p>Do you read to your partner in bed? Perhaps you listen to acid house as you drift off, or can’t go to sleep without having the TV blaring out across the room. Do you have any unusual night-time habits that you don’t mind admitting here?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/12/masterchef-gregg-wallace-unusual-bedtime-habit">Continue reading...</a>SleepHealth & wellbeingLife and styleMon, 12 Jan 2015 14:15:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/12/masterchef-gregg-wallace-unusual-bedtime-habitPhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose'I like to go home, cook with Anna and read history books. I also read to her in bed. We’re big fans of Winnie the Pooh.' Photograph: Katherine Anne RosePhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose'I like to go home, cook with Anna and read history books. I also read to her in bed. We’re big fans of Winnie the Pooh.' Photograph: Katherine Anne RoseOpen thread2015-01-12T14:15:49ZCan’t sleep? How to beat insomniahttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/sleep-how-to-beat-insomnia
<p>Do you start most days exhausted after a sleepless or restless night? Your dreams of better sleep could come true ...</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/five-reasons-we-should-all-learn-to-do-nothing">Oliver Burkeman’s five reasons to do nothing</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/can-robert-webb-do-nothing-really-well-meditation">Can Robert Webb do nothing, but do it really well?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/book-clubs-with-difference-have-you-tried-slow-reading">Book clubs with a difference – have you tried Slow Reading?</a></li></ul><p>I don’t remember having trouble sleeping – until my late teens. There was no grand trauma, no “aha” moment to pinpoint when my sleep was disrupted. I just sort of drifted into insomnia. And there I have stayed, on and off, for almost 15 years. It has meant exhausted days and nights stretched out in front of me like the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm" title="">Grand Canyon</a>. I have tried to remedy it over the years, using pills (soft herbal brands and the hard big pharma types), sprays (top picks: lavender and frankincense), a variety of “calming” sounds (including whale, panpipes and white noise) and, of course, the gold-level option of “wishing really hard”.</p><p>Sleep, as I learned via A-level psychology, is a chance to relax and literally do nothing (except allow my subconscious to sort through the day’s events), and yet I was switched on, sometimes all through the night. My problem is night sleeping – I either wake up during the night or fail to fall asleep in the first place (during the day, I drift off on trains, buses and in cars). I average about four-and-a-half hours a night, which is not ideal for a rich human life. I’ve got used to not sleeping; in movie-learned therapy-speak, I think that means I’ve hit rock bottom, which makes it the perfect time to see Dr Guy Meadows, the clinical director of <a href="http://thesleepschool.org/" title="">The Sleep School</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/sleep-how-to-beat-insomnia">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleSleepHealth & wellbeingFri, 09 Jan 2015 14:00:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/sleep-how-to-beat-insomniaPhotograph: Christian Sinibaldi/GuardianA good night’s sleep at last for Bim Adewunmi. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the GuardianPhotograph: Christian Sinibaldi/GuardianA good night’s sleep at last for Bim Adewunmi. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the GuardianBim Adewunmi2015-01-09T14:00:20ZAre you suffering from social jetlag?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/jan/05/suffering-social-jetlag-tired-lie-ins-christmas
<p>Feeling tired, irritable and generally not much use back at work? It’s probably down to those lie-ins over the Christmas break, say scientists</p><p><strong>Hmm?</strong> Say “Name”.</p><p><strong>What? I’m just resting my eyes.</strong> Say “Name”. We need to get started.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/jan/05/suffering-social-jetlag-tired-lie-ins-christmas">Continue reading...</a>Health & wellbeingLife and styleSleepNew yearMon, 05 Jan 2015 13:37:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/jan/05/suffering-social-jetlag-tired-lie-ins-christmasPhotograph: Paul Bradbury/Getty Images/OJO Images RFHas Christmas played havoc with your circadian rhythms?Photograph: Paul Bradbury/Getty Images/OJO Images RFHas Christmas played havoc with your circadian rhythms?Guardian Staff2015-01-05T13:37:23ZSleep your way to new year’s resolution success | Richard Wisemanhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/01/sleep-new-years-resolution-success
<p>My research suggests a correlation between getting a good night’s sleep and achieving your ambitions. So here’s five ways to improve your shut-eye<br><br>• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/31/new-years-resolutions-bad-habits-die-hard">Viv Groskop: Bad habits die hard</a><br></p><p>A few years ago I tracked over 3,000 people attempting to achieve a range of new year’s resolutions, including losing weight, exercising more, stopping smoking and drinking less. At the start of the study, 52% of participants were confident of success. One year later, only 12% had actually achieved their goal.</p><p>So what can you do to increase your chances of making your 2015 resolutions a reality? It might be as a simple as getting a better night’s sleep. Last month I asked more than 1,000 people to rate both the quality of their sleep and how successful they were at achieving their resolutions. The results revealed a strong relationship, with 60% of people who slept well saying they were able to achieve their resolutions, compared to just 44% of those who slept poorly. These findings build on previous work showing that sleep deprivation disrupts self-control and willpower.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/01/sleep-new-years-resolution-success">Continue reading...</a>New yearSleepHealth & wellbeingLife and styleScienceThu, 01 Jan 2015 11:30:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/01/sleep-new-years-resolution-successPhotograph: Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty ImagesSolving the sleep puzzle.Photograph: Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty ImagesSolving the sleep puzzle.Photograph: AlamyTry and avoid tablets at bedtime.Photograph: AlamyTry and avoid tablets at bedtime.Photograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesCould sleeping soundly be key to a happy 2015? Photograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesCould sleeping soundly be key to a happy 2015? Photograph: Kelvin Murray/Getty ImagesRichard Wiseman2015-01-01T11:30:09ZThe De Rucci sleep festival: is this Australia's most mysterious festival?http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/29/the-de-rucci-sleep-festival-guardian-australia-review
<p>Just what is the De Rucci sleep festival? And who is the stern-looking man on the billboards?</p><p>The billboards of Parramatta Road, Sydney, sometimes foretell mysterious events: sales, cures and even apocalyptic warnings. For the past two months a man has been staring down from almost every purchasable vantage point in Sydney to advise of the 2014 De Rucci Australasian sleep festival. </p><p>The billboard – and what it was pushing – was puzzling. Was it designed for those who could or could not sleep? How could you be both sleep-focused and festive? Would people travel in from New Zealand and beyond? Would the intense-looking man from the billboard be in attendance? </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/29/the-de-rucci-sleep-festival-guardian-australia-review">Continue reading...</a>SydneyHealth & wellbeingSleepSleep apnoeaMon, 29 Dec 2014 01:19:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/29/the-de-rucci-sleep-festival-guardian-australia-reviewPhotograph: Lyndal IronsThe red carpet at the De Rucci sleep festivalPhotograph: Lyndal IronsThe red carpet at the De Rucci sleep festivalPhotograph: Lyndal IronsWho is the face of the sleep festival?Photograph: Lyndal IronsWho is the face of the sleep festival?Photograph: Lyndal IronsSome of Gordon Dyer’s friends say he resembles the De Rucci poster boyPhotograph: Lyndal IronsSome of Gordon Dyer’s friends say he resembles the De Rucci poster boyPhotograph: Lyndal Irons/Supplied.The billboard on Parramatta Road in Sydney. Photographs: Lyndal IronsPhotograph: Lyndal Irons/Supplied.The billboard on Parramatta Road in Sydney. Photographs: Lyndal IronsLyndal Irons2014-12-29T01:19:41Z